Summer Sunshine
by Dakimomoe
Summary: Who would've thought that a simple drowning incident, could lead to something so much more? Definitely not Ruby, and most especially; not Weiss.
1. Floater Trouble

**AN:** just a little something for the heat, have a short series of mindless beach summer fluff :)

* * *

Summer.

It was a season that always had a love/hate relationship going on for Ruby Rose. It was a season where she was active in each and everyday, and basically a season where it was really hot as hell. Ugh, she didn't really had the time to laze around because she was a very busy person every summer, although lazing around in this heat didn't exactly sound too ideal to be honest.

Good thing she was surrounded by sea water, where she can submerge herself once in a while when she wanted.

"Phew," Ruby blew air from her lips to give quick relief underneath her bangs as she fanned herself, she was beginning to sweat even though she was doing nothing. At times like these she wondered why she even liked being a lifeguard in the first place, well aside from the thrill of being quick to respond to help drowning people, and occasionally giving directions to some foreigners. 95% of the time she was just here, sitting atop her highchair, looking over the sea of people until she starts to make up ridiculous stories on some of them.

But she guessed, knowing that everyone was having a fun time while being safe was enough for her.

Burrowing herself into her recliner—thankful for the huge umbrella above lest she melt under the sun—she saw a black car pull over in a distance near the entrance of the beach in the corner of her eyes—no wait a minute, was that a limo? She turned her face there and saw the driver—it seemed, who wore a black suit under his big muscular body complete with a set of shades and an earpiece in his ear.

Ruby felt her jaw go slack at the sight, m— men in black?! Soon there was another black car, but it was fortunately shorter than the first—though the two people who came out made her jerk back in surprise, more men in black?! Were they going to invade the beach or something?!

Scary!

The driver from earlier looked around before opening the door in the rear side of the limo, when he did, a white sandal clad foot landed on the sandy ground daintily, until the figure revealed itself. It was a tall woman who had her white hair up in a bun, her bangs hiding the side of her face. She was wearing a white pleated chiffon blouse and black shorts along with her white sandals. She had a smile on her face as another figure came from the car, this time it was another girl, she had the same white hair as the first one but had hers tied in a side pony tail.

She was wearing a light blue loose shirt that was tucked in her lacy white shorts, her feet was clad in wedged white sandals, and they both had such milky white skin! It was almost ridiculous how they incredibly looked like.. the opposite of summer. Even though they were indeed wearing summer clothes, their.. color pallete definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. Especially after coming out of a black limousine, surrounded by men in black for that matter. It was definitely eye catching, but specifically the two ladies who came out seemed to have caught Ruby's undivided attention.

One could say she was starstruck, but no she wasn't, she was just merely observing.

She noticed that the second who came out was still shorter than the taller one even with her wedgies—Ruby was going to assume that they were sisters now, the uncanny resemblance was a definite ringer. The preoccupied lifeguard watched as the two ladies conversed with each other about something, the shorter one seemed indignant as the taller one simply laughed at her face. It went on for a while until they ended up in front of the beach house that had been vacant since the moment they moved here.

Ruby tilted her head, oh so they lived there? It was right next to their own beach house too, though much smaller compared to theirs. They were obviously wealthier than pretty much everyone living here in Vale beach. She'd never even seen a real life limo before! And those men in black? She thought those people only existed in movies! Sighing she returned her gaze to the beach when she saw them go inside, their bodyguards who were carrying luggage in tow.

Taking in one lungful of the sea breeze, she began to take another scan of the mass of people scattered around the beach screeching and running around like primates. She nodded to herself when nothing seemed to be out of ordinary and leaned back against her high chair with a huff, now that the weird arrival of the unknown rich people had passed, she was left with thoughts.

She began to wonder, who were those two girls? Did they actually live there all this time? She really needed to catch up about things around this beach, she was at loss. Ruby was deep in thoughts when a voice suddenly put her out of thinking.

Leaning over her high chair, she was met with the grinning face of her half-sister, Yang Xiao Long. Her long wild blonde mane was unkempt as always—fortunately tied up during work, speaking of work she was wearing her work clothes as well. Tight fitting buttoned lemon colored shirt that had a black collar—which definitely showed her curves almost too well, and a pencil skirt. She came on slippers though, she worked as a waitress in their restaurant, which was their family business.

"Come down Rubes, let's have a short break!" she gestured with the cold soda cans in her hands which effectively got Ruby off her high chair, she gave her sister her drink with a small laugh, "Are you hungry?"

Ruby sported a thoughtful look, "Not really, but thanks for these," she shook her can to point out before opening it with a satisfying swish and took a swig, "Ahh, this is nice!"

"No problem sis," Yang spoke before sitting on the sand which Ruby followed suit, taking a drink from her own soda.

"Hmnn.." Ruby hummed as she pondered, briefly glancing at the beach house next to theirs, then to a distracted Yang, "Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"So there were these people who came 'round a little earlier, and they literally came out from a limo along with these huge bodyguards wearing black suits in a freaking beach," she started, her hands gesturing just how big they were, Yang was amused.

"Then they came inside that fancy beach house next to ours," she pointed to the said house, her pony tailed long dark crimson tipped hair almost hitting her sister in the face, before facing the slightly disoriented Yang again, "I was just wondering if you knew them by any chance..?"

"Well.." rubbing her slightly itchy grazed cheek a bit, the blonde mused while staring at the house her sister just pointed, her eyes squinting in thought, "Well I did somewhat hear from Uncle Qrow that the people who lived there were very rich people," she mumbled, putting her fingers on her chin as the gears in her brain functioned, "I think their last names sounded like Sneeze or something, y'know those types of surnames used in huge corporations? Yeah, that."

"Sneeze?" Ruby repeated, a little dubious but had a glint of mirth in her eyes, "I don't think any corporation would use Sneeze as their name, Yang."

Yang shrugged nonchalantly, a brazen grin on her features, "I don't know, I told you I wasn't sure."

"Anyway, sorry Rubes but I gotta get back to work now," she stood up, stretching her arms in a circular motion, "Just making sure to check on Penny before she suddenly malfunctions from working alone," they both laughed before the blonde waved good bye, "See ya later sis!"

Ruby waved back and her older sister was out of sight, she was smiling until she saw the empty can left beside her.

"Ugh, Yang."

* * *

With her palm on her chin, Ruby leaned over her chair as she watched the crowd beneath her. Soon her eyes happened to come across a group of people who were being quite rowdy in their own.. eccentric way.

...wait what?

What was even happening?

The group was composed of four people, and they were splashing each other—which yes, was completely normal. But the way these people did it, it was most definitely not normal. They were splashing each other as if it was some sort of Olympic sport! Ruby watched in shock—and awe—as an orange haired girl swung around an inflatable hammer as if it was her own trusty weapon, she seemed to be spouting nonsense with her incredibly _loud_ voice that the lifeguard swore she could even hear from here.

"...SMASHING...MY MAGNHILD! ...AHH LEGS!"

Turning her gaze to her other friends, she saw another girl with red hair deflecting the violent swirls of water splashes with her kick board _effectively_ , almost as if she was thoroughly trained to do it. The gingerhead pulled out something from her other hand that was obstructed from Ruby's view, and it was a long stick? Where did she even get that? And she seemed to be aiming it at the deranged hammer wielder as if it was a goddamn spear! The lifeguard watched with bated breath as the girl with her thumb out threw her stick with horrific precision and hit the girl—no it wasn't the girl, it was a dude behind her guarding another blonde boy like he was some hostage.

The redhead unsuccessfully hit the pink streaked dude who literally snapped it into two in _midair_ as if he was Bruce Lee, he turned his gaze onto the girl and demonstrated some martial art forms that reminded Ruby of a certain character in a certain fighting game.

The girl seemed to click her tongue, before charging in and engaged the two in some sort of fight that could only make the lifeguard scratch her head in utter astonishment, she glanced to the hostage-esque blonde who was.. just getting pounded by the water, poor boy probably couldn't even breathe properly with all the water splashing on his face.

Ruby simply shook her head at the scene with a smile on her lips, at least happenings like this made her work more interesting and worthwhile.

When they finally got tired, they began to retreat from the ocean, the boy dragged over to the sand by the orange haired girl as he wheezed for airscreaming gratitude to some almighty deity for surviving the calamity brought upon him. It was actually funny that it made Ruby chuckle, this was probably the most interesting group she'd ever encountered in the beach. Well.. aside from the rich people from earlier.

Sensing some newcomers, she averted her gaze to the side.

Oh, speak of the devil.

It was the white haired sisters.. and they were in their bikinis this time. It made Ruby stop as she unintentionally lingered her eyes towards the two, especially the short one who had a skin so white, it could blind anyone who even looked at her. Not to mention, her stare looked somewhat icy and cold.

Damn, does she even leave her house?

Everything about her screamed rich..

..regal, pretty and—

Shaking her head, she began to take notice of the inconspicuous swim ring around her waist, and she couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion.

Was that..? Yes, it was a swing ring. But what was with that? It even had snowflake designs on it, it was.. childish.

Maybe she didn't feel like paddling her limbs in the ocean. But that was rather cute, it was something she would never expect.

The two sisters began to walk towards the ocean, with muscled men in their wake who were fortunately in swim clothes, yet the identical sunglasses and the earpieces in their ear were still off putting. Better than being in suits in the beach, she guessed.

In that short while when they were walking, somehow the short one and Ruby's gazes met. She saw piercing ice blue eyes widening, as if startled, before she tore her gaze away—straight to the sea. Blinking at what just happened, Ruby discreetly placed a hand over her chest, her heart strangely excited for some reason.

Maybe the heat was getting to her.

After a quick scan towards the folks around the beach, she landed her gaze once more to the sisters, and saw the taller splash the short one in the face impishly to the point that she couldn't even gather her bearings, the girl got so pissed she threw her swim ring. The taller laughed before giving it back then said something—almost in a hush, the shorter one blushed in embarrassment before taking it back indignantly, safely tucking herself inside.

Then, Ruby didn't even notice she had been exclusively watching over them.

* * *

The sounds of ocean waves and _people_ surrounded the two prestigious sisters—probably in the whole beach, though the older of the two seemed too interested in the water to care about the attention they knew they were gaining.

"As always, the clearness of the water here never fails to amaze me," Winter, the oldest of the Schnee sisters said absentmindedly as she stared down the rippling saltwater, "I can see my bikini."

Raising an eyebrow at her statement, Weiss—the youngest of the two—simply splashed her on the face before lying her chin over her swim floater. Letting the gentle waves of the ocean roll her of back and forth, the sounds of water swinging against each other lulling her into relaxation.

"It's a shame father couldn't come this year," she spoke, sharing her thoughts in a murmur. Usually their father would come with them every time they went here, but something came up in his work which he had to take care of, leaving the both of them ahead. Weiss just wasn't used with the absence of their father in outings such as these. He had always been a warm hearted goof and made things better, even though he could be a little over-reacting and overprotective sometimes.

Turning to her little sister, Winter shrugged her shoulders in reply, "It can't be helped, he had to attend to an emergency."

Weiss hummed distractedly before discreetly looking over a certain high chair, where lifeguards were situated, she saw a fine young lady sitting a top it, keen silver eyes scanning over the area. She was obviously used to this kind of work, it showed on her toned body and well.. she had a tan! Pursing her lips as she peered over her swim ring, the girl was wearing a maroon colored bikini, she had goggles over her head and a whistle around her neck. Her dark hair was crimson tipped and her long hair was held up in ponytail.

The alabaster haired girl noticed that she was actually attracting quite a lot of attention even just by sitting there, she didn't seem to notice too.

A fake cough brought her out of stupor causing her to jerk in surprise, almost losing a hold of her swim ring. She glared at her sister who was giving her an obnoxious look, "What?"

Winter smirked, before tutting with a shake of her head, "It seems like someone caught little Weiss' interest."

The said girl immediately turned her body behind the lifeguard—unhelpfully—and splashed her in the face, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Glancing over to the high chair Weiss was looking at, she began speak in a way that grated on Weiss' nerves, "Well, she is indeed.. stunning, I'll give you that," soon she sported a slightly confused look, "Though, this is the first time I saw her."

They had been regulars in this beach every summer so she would know, and from what she could recall.. the lifeguard before had always been that over the top muscular guy who looked like he was consuming steroids for breakfast, he used to always flaunt his humongous biceps in every chance he got. The moment his duty calls, he could probably break someone in half before he could even get them out of the water.

She seemed to like her better though, the older Schnee didn't really know why but she just held this impressive aura around her that she couldn't really point a finger at.

"I like her," she concluded.

Suddenly, she heard Weiss splutter ungraciously, "What?!"

"What do you mean what?" Winter seemed confused by her reaction, "That I like her?"

Not a moment later, the look of realization dawned upon her face which Weiss dreaded dearly, "Ohhh I get it. Don't worry, Weiss!"

"I won't take her away from you!" she laughed.

Weiss simply spluttered again in reply, "W— What?! No! I don't even know her!"

"Wow Weiss you're funny today," Winter shook her head with a laugh.

"Shut up, Winter."

Winter simply chuckled at the indignant pout on her sister's face, a large enough wave making her swim floater roll her back and forth unceremoniously, a splash hitting her on the face. The older of the two tried to stifle her laughter this time, "Seems like you still need more floaties."

Weiss was utterly exasperated, the ocean wasn't kind to her today, "I do _not_."

Shrugging nonchalantly, she spoke teasingly, "Okay then, I'll just get one for myself since I'm getting tried of _flailing_ my arms around."

The younger of the two simply put her nose up in a huffy, as if she was superior. Winter waved her crabbiness off, "Yeah yeah," and did a double take on her sister, "Will you be alright while I'm gone?"

Weiss of course, being the prideful girl that she was, she said yes.

With another look, her older sister began to swim away, unintentionally creating waves that pushed her further away from the shore. It blared red alarms in Weiss' brain, making her look over the shoulder of her swimming sister. Wait.. why was the shore so far away? Since when did they drift away from land this far? Feeling dread creep up her submerged skin, she began to kick her feet to find the comforting feeling of the cold sandy ground.

Except.. there was _no_ ground.

Jesus christ.

Weiss began to inwardly panic, but the annoying prideful part in her refused to let her emotions show. She had to stay calm, yes.. stay calm Weiss! She won't let the absence of the ground get to her! She will.. she will power paddle through this! Oh god, her heart was beating so fast, Winter was out of ear shot now, she was near the shore. She didn't really want to shout since that will be embarrassing, she just had to wait, right?

Yes, she will just stay perfectly still, wait for her sister and everything will be alright.

Suddenly as if to crush her remaining hope, a particularly harsh wave slapped her in the face, causing her to drift further away from _land_.

Weiss wanted to scream.

Luck definitely wasn't with her today! She had been noticing her swim ring somehow making her sink into the water for a while now, but she thought it was just her slumping over, but _no!_ Her supposedly _trusty_ swim ring was failing on her, it had a hole somewhere, a beslobbering villainous rude-growing hugger-mugger measle hole!

 _Ugh!_

Now she was beginning to channel her inner Father!

Little by little she felt her god forsaken swim floater go airless by each second, and she died a little every time it happened. Weren't swim floaters supposed to keep people safe?! Why was it doing the opposite right now?! She could feel herself sinking deeper into the ocean, she did _not_ know how to swim for pete's sake!

Weiss was now visibly panicking searching for that hole probably made by Satan while power paddling like a dog towards the shore, but the waves kept on pulling her back! Stupid bawdy waves! _Let her live_! Oh god, she was going to die, she couldn't find the hole and she could literally feel herself neck deep into the water. She glanced back to her sister, who finally noticed, but it was too late. Before she could even shout for the lifeguard, the said person was already swimming over to Weiss who was startled at her quick entrance.

Though before she could even register her face, she was already drowning.


	2. Neighbor Trouble

Ruby made long strokes against the water and immediately caught up with the girl—who waved her arms wildly around her—that she ended up slapping the lifeguard in the face a few times before she was finally secured in her arms. It wasn't exactly the most pleasant feeling, but she relented, knowing the girl was just scared.

Unfortunately, the girl was actually incredibly stubborn, and it was making it hard for them to keep afloat.

She began to reassure the girl by making her face her, the moment their eyes met it seemed to calm her down even just a bit, "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'll take us back to the shore, relax."

Nodding wordlessly, the girl soon obliged, her face flushed, her heart beating fast with ragged breaths, and her arms tightly grasping around the lifeguard.

"Please take this," she presented a life vest, making the girl at least hold it. Her hands were a little shaky, and she was embarrassed, which Ruby noticed. It seemed like she wasn't used to being helped or saved.

While the lifeguard was slowly swimming them towards the shore, she saw three muscular men going her way with ridiculous ferocity. Their expressions were serious and deathly cold, they looked like they were going to pummel her into the depths of the ocean for even touching the girl.

"Uhm.. miss, do you know those men by any chance..?" _because.. omg please stop them?_ She addressed the silently fuming girl in slight panic, the speedy bodyguards were slowly closing the distance between them as if they were in the Olympics, and the sight made her feel genuinely scared for her life.

They were not going to kill her, were they?

The girl who was now considerably calm, squinted her eyes to see the shining bald heads coming towards their way, she quickly yelled stop. The men stopped promptly, finally seeing that she was fine, "I'm okay now, you can go back to the shore. There's already enough commotion as it is."

Looking at each other hesitantly, the two muscled men nodded before swimming back to the shore, more relaxed this time.

Continuing the slow swim towards the ground, Ruby felt the girl tighten her hold on her when a particular big wave went against them, and she couldn't help but be slightly tickled pink at the contact. She tried her hardest not to look at the girl's expression, but caught a glimpse of it anyway.

Oh her face was red.

Suddenly the girl spoke in an embarrassed shrilly voice, "Can you hurry up?"

Ruby blinked at her demanding tone, feeling a bit displeased by her attitude, "Okay okay, sheesh."

A few seconds later, she heard the girl mutter to herself in a not so subtle way, "I can't believe I almost drowned and even let a complete stranger help me. This is just so unacceptable.." somehow her rants made Ruby smile, it was kind of adorable how she would begin muttering heatedly while holding onto her so tightly.

When the girl could finally feel the sandy ground and walk for herself, she quickly detached herself from the lean figure of the lifeguard, immediately crossing her arms stubbornly.

A bit confused by her display of peevishness, Ruby shook her head and began to speak, "You shouldn't go too far from the shore next time," bringing out an airless article, it was the forsaken swim ring, "even with a swim ring."

Flustered, the smaller girl took the useless piece of plastic and frowned, " _Ugh_ , why do you even care?"

"Because I'm the life guard, I care for your safety and everyone else," she answered simply, raising a brow at the girl being so suddenly aggravating.

"More like you'll get fired if you don't do your job properly.." grumbled the snobby girl.

Ruby was beginning to feel a headache forming in her head, why was this girl being so difficult?

"Hey now, I love my job, and I do care about people's safety. I was just trying to help," narrowing her eyes, she sighed before she said something she would regret. Damn this girl was crabby as heck.

When they were finally on real land, the girl was immediately met with a worried older sister, and three imposing body guards who were glaring daggers at her poor innocent soul. Just what did she do to receive such treatment from these folks? She really was just trying to help!

"Oh my god, are you okay? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you back there!" she fussed over her little sister who looked annoyed and embarrassed at the same time, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Silently, the girl spoke, her voice meek and low, "I'm fine, let's.. let's just go home."

The girl began to walk away, but the older sister seemed hesitant to leave immediately, tearing her gaze from the girl's retreating back, she turned to Ruby and gave her an appreciative smile, "Thank you for saving my sister," she quickly said before following her said grumpy sister.

Ruby saw the body guards give her one last menacing look before trailing behind the two white haired individuals, and all she felt was.. mixed emotions. _Look_! Even her sister _thanked_ her, but not even a _single_ word of _gratitude_ from her little sister! Not to mention the unreasonable resentment from their burly men!

Ruby huffed and put a hand on her waist as she watched them depart, somehow disgruntled at the turn of events. When she was about to go back to her high chair, she gave one last look at the girl she saved and saw her doing the same, before furrowing her brows and looking back forward.

This little exchange made her a little confused, just _what_ was her problem?

She sighed before going back to her job.

* * *

After that the rest of the day became uneventful, save for the eccentric group that seemed to have their own version of water sports. The sun had already set, Ruby was now back in their own beach house and it was currently dinner time.

As Ruby was in the midst of her bite, Yang began to speak with a light hearted tone, "So Ruby, did anything interesting happen today?"

After a second of chewing, she saw her dad looking over as well, curious if she had anything to share. She swallowed before speaking, "Well, in fact something interesting did happen earlier."

"Yang, remember the rich people I told you about this morning?" she began, turning to the blonde who had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Yeah why?"

"It's about them, there's like two of them, white haired and are sisters. The younger one almost drowned, and I jumped in to help her, she was kind of a bi—nasty person though," she stopped herself from cursing for a second, remembering that her dad was around. He caught her anyway judging from the sheepish look on her face, but let it slip.

Until she suddenly realized something, "Oh, I don't even know her name.."

Tapping his chin, her dad chimed in as if in realization, "Ah that's probably the Schnee sisters you're talking about."

Yang exclaimed with a loud voice as if her mind worked again, "So that's what they're called!" turning to Ruby with a cheeky smile on her face, "Well _Sneeze_ was close enough isn't it?"

Ruby laughed before shaking her head at her antics.

Chuckling at his daughters, he began to continue speaking, "They're part of the Schnee family, and they own the Schnee Dust Corporation, meaning.." he made them elaborate.

"They're filthy rich?" Yang quipped helpfully.

"They could probably buy people?" Ruby answered in question.

The two of them looked at Ruby, surprised by her questionable answer.

Disconcerted by their stares, she simply laughed awkwardly.

Their dad chose not to comment on it, though hesitant, he continued to speak, "..something like that, after all they pretty much supply power in Remnant," his smile became easy going, until it fell ever so slightly, "They used to have quite a notorious reputation though, but that changed when the previous president was replaced. Now they're gaining quite the attention for changing their ways, like the shady labor of faunus workers."

"Oh I know someone who would be pleased by that," the blonde interjected with a complacent grin on her face.

Seeing the opportunity, an impish smile graced Ruby's lips, "Is it Blake?"

Obliviously, her half-sister nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Oh the faunus girl, I see her often in our restaurant, she's a regular now isn't she?" their father added, a look of approval on his face.

"Maybe Yang has something to do with it," teasingly, Ruby began to nudge Yang's ribs which made her splutter, a flustered look on her face.

"No way! I'm just serving her like everyone else!" the blonde's defensiveness wasn't helping, but the two finally let it go with a noncommittal shrug and knowing look on their faces.

This only left Yang exasperated.

"I wonder if the Schnees are really that snobby," the crimson tipped girl wondered, changing the topic as she gathered another bite on her spoon before placing it into her mouth, "Well, most particularly the little sister," she added after swallowing.

Her father didn't seem to know, "I have no idea, their father seemed to keep them out of spotlight for some reason," he took a bite of his own before continuing, "Probably so that the paparazzi won't bother them."

"Well, the body guards weren't exactly being subtle about it though.." she commented, remembering the cold glares being directed at her, it made her shiver.

"Was it those bald guys? I served one of them in the restaurant today, he was really polite though, even if his ridiculous muscles screamed other wise," Yang had a spoon in her mouth in thought, "He even told a guy off for me."

Ruby tilted her head, confused, "Funny.. I was sure they were glaring death at me after I saved the little sister."

"Maybe they were just being cautious and protective," her father reasoned helpfully.

"Hmn, yeah I guess so.."

The conversations went on throughout the whole dinner before they finally retreated to sleep for the night.

* * *

Just fresh out of bath, Ruby dried her hair with a small towel and walked to the living room, wearing a simple black shirt and maroon shorts. She went to the kitchen until she left with a glass of milk, trekking back to her room. The newly bathed girl took a sip from her drink before landing her gaze onto her balcony, deciding to get some air for a while she downed her drink and placed it down on her high table.

Walking over to the balcony, she opened the curtains as well as the door and leaned her elbows over the dividers. She took a lungful of the refreshing sea breeze, relaxing in her small balcony. Oh, in front of her was another balcony, but it was from the Schnee house. It had always been empty though, creepily so sometimes, but she didn't pay it much mind. Her eyes drifted up to the stars, staring at the shattered moon. Her thoughts began to drift back to this afternoon, thinking about how soft the girl was under her arms.

She must've never done chores in her life.

" _You_!"

Speak of the devil.

Soon she heard a familiar shrilly voice in front of her, causing her to land her gaze to the source, only to see the exact girl in her thoughts right in front of her. She was wearing pajamas that had dog prints on it, and she really was surprisingly.. _childish_. Their eyes met and the girl was quivering with embarrassment, probably because of being caught wearing such a thing.

"What are you doing here?!" she exclaimed, as if the fact that she was seeing Ruby right now was unacceptable.

Ruby simply blinked at her as if she was dumb, "What do you mean? I live here."

"What!" exasperation was evident on her features.

Now that Ruby thought of it, this was the only time she actually saw the girl's face up close. She was really.. pretty, though only now she noticed that she had a vertical scar over her left eye. Still, it did nothing to soil her beauty and instead made her look more fierce. Ya know, if she wasn't scowling almost 99% of the time, and smiled often she could probably steal many hearts a mile away.

"I've never seen _you_ before! Mr. Port lived here!" she still proceeded with her shrilly voice.

It was actually kind of funny how she would get so worked up like this.

"Mr. Port moved somewhere else, though he's still in the beach. We live here now," Ruby answered simply, seemingly unfazed as she rested her chin on her palm, a carefree smile on her face which was throwing the girl off.

"So you like dogs, huh?" she commented randomly, sparkles of mirth in her eyes.

She was thoroughly amused, and she knew it grated on the girl's nerves.

Huffing, the disgruntled girl simply crossed her arms with her head held high to the side indignantly, "What about it."

Ruby only laughed at her, "Nothing."

She just happened to like them as well, especially since they had Zwei.

"What's your name?" she asked, her voice genuinely curious.

The girl's jaw slackened, she looked visibly shocked that she did not know who she was.

Confused at her reaction, Ruby spoke once more in a nonchalant tone, "Well, I do know your last name is _Sneeze_ or some—"

Immediately she was corrected in an annoyed shriek, "Schnee!" she suddenly began pointing fingers at the unsuspecting Ruby, "It's _Schnee_! You idiotic dolt!"

"Shriek—?"

"—how _dare_ you!"

Ruby just smiled, ignoring her complaints and repeated her question, "So what _is_ your name?"

The girl groaned in utter incredulity, "It's Weiss _Schnee_ , and you better remember that this time!"

"So Weiss Sneez—"

" _SCHNEE!_ "

"What is a beautiful lady such as yourself doing in Vale Beach?" she finished gallantly, completely brushing off the girl's bordering to incoherence strings of insults about her stupidity.

Her words seemed to have caught her out of guard, her jaw slack, her cheeks tinting ever so slightly, "B—Beautifu—well—o—obviously because we own this beach!"

Ruby looked at her dumbly, "..really?"

This made _Schnee_ sigh with a hand on her face, "You're living here and you don't even know. We always come here during our summer break and pretty much whenever."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head, looking sheepish for the first time, "Well we just moved here recently so I'm still beginning to catch up to things."

The girl was about to say something when suddenly she heard her room's door open revealing her sister, Winter.

"Light's off, Weiss!" she yelled annoyingly before switching the lights off and closing the door.

Quickly she turned to Ruby who was stifling her snicker, and was now wearing a teasing grin on her face, "Weiss _Schnee_ , just how old are you?"

Looking offended, the girl defended herself, "Excuse me, I am 17 almost an adult! Wipe that stupid smirk off your face this instant!" she almost screamed in pure exasperation, embarrassed of her sister's antics, she only did that to aggravate her!

Ruby did a fake gasp that was sure to get on her nerves, "What a surprise! I'm also 17, I can't believe we're the same age!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" the girl breathed in exasperation.

Laughing, Ruby continued to tease the exasperated girl—much to her utter chagrin, "You should go to sleep now, after all it's _lights off_."

"I swear one more time I'll—"

"Haha, good night Weiss _Schnee,_ " she simply gave the girl a warm smile which effectively shut her up.

After a moment of silence, once more, the girl tried to open her mouth before closing it, suddenly refusing to continue with her words.

"Ok," she said finally before going back to her room and closed the sliding doors, but not without one last look.

When their eyes met, she had already closed the curtains.

For the second time that eventful day, Ruby once again found herself disgruntled by Weiss _Schnee_ 's lack of response.

Seriously that girl was so _rude_!

Scratching her head with a sigh, she began to walk back into her room herself.

Well she was definitely something.

She smiled, before turning in for the night.

* * *

 **AN:** Surprise! Ruby's a bit of a lady killer and is the same age as everyone else. While Winter's suddenly the type to get along well with Yang. Well it is an AU for a reason :) tho seriously, thank you everyone for the quick burst of love this got, didn't expect it to get so many faves and follows. Also special thanks to those who reviewed, i love u guys *hart* and a small heads up, this will only have five chapters.

gay days everyone


	3. Restaurant Trouble

It was once more the start of a brand new hot summer day, and the newly bathed Ruby glanced at the balcony before opening the curtains to have some daily lungful of fresh sea breeze. Though surprisingly, she was met with an alabaster haired girl glaring daggers at her balcony for some reason.

Her sudden appearance startled her, almost making the girl jump out of the dividers.

Ruby laughed while she fumed.

"Don't just pop in like that!" she retorted, her shrilly voice music to Ruby's ears, hahaha _not_.

"On top of the morning to you too, Miss _Sunshine_ ," Ruby greeted with an impish grin on her lips, an amused glint in her eyes, "Well ya know, if you weren't so fixated on burning a hole in my curtains you wouldn't have been so jumpy."

Crossing her arms—something that Ruby noticed was her thing—the girl stuck her nose in the air indignantly, "I do not know what you are talking about."

Shrugging at her being so difficult once more, she laid her chin over her palm, her elbows propped up against the dividers, "You going for a swim today?"

"Of course," she huffed in response, her impossibly perfect locks of alabaster hair swaying gently against the cold wind.

Absentmindedly wondering, Ruby spoke without thinking, "How do you keep your skin so fair like that," she felt a little abashed for asking that out of blue, but kept a straight face.

The girl seemed to suddenly feel self-conscious, rubbing her other arm with her hand, "Sunscreen, duh."

Ruby laughed, which seemed to dissipate the weird awkwardness, "Of course."

Now curious, the girl looked over at Ruby's own tanned skin, somehow it made her feel a little flustered to be looking at her like that.

"Y—Your tan.."

"Oh this?" looking at her own skin, Ruby gave her an easy going smile, "I used to use sunscreens as well, but somehow just didn't bother with it, you see I had always been a beach person for all my life."

Confused, the girl asked to elaborate, "Didn't you just move here?"

"I was also a lifeguard back in our home town, we had a small beach back there, we moved here to expand our family business," after her small explanation, Ruby darted her gaze to the beach. It was still early so only few people occupied the white sandy shore, some opting to jog beside the gentle waves of the ocean.

The sight always put her at ease, making her absently wonder if the girl across her thought the same thing..

..who nodded in understanding, unaware of her weird thoughts, "I'm assuming it's the new family restaurant nearby.."

Ruby beamed at the recognition, "Yup! You should come by sometime."

"I'll think about it."

For once in the girl's first two days here, Ruby somehow had an actual normal conversation with her.. you know without her on the verge of popping a vein or something. It was really nice, but now she had to go.

"Well, I gotta leave now, but before that," before she eased herself to leave, she gave the confused girl a grin, "You can't swim right?"

"Hey!"

Her wonderful retort made her smile, "How about I teach you how?"

* * *

"So.. that's it," Weiss submerged half of her face underwater—well as much as her _new_ swim floater allowed—looking surprisingly meek that Winter could not help but gasp. Her dearest little sister, communicating with other people?! Much less actually having actual interaction and physical contact—

"You're probably thinking about stupid stuff again," the younger sister deadpanned, a blank look on her face.

"I'm just happy you're making friends!" suddenly Winter brought out a huge thumbs up, "I approve of you two."

Weiss did her signature splutter, "What! What are you talking about! Whatever, is this new swim ring checked? I don't want it failing on me again."

"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe and much better than your old one, this one doesn't even need air to begin with!" she raved about the floating device as if she was advertising it.

"Okay," ignoring her older sister at this point, Weiss discreetly glanced up to the highchair. Weirdly, a different person was sitting there today. She furrowed her eyebrows, she was not _that_.. person. Wait.. what was her name again? Weiss tried to rummage through her memory banks to see if she heard the lifeguard's name somewhere, but came up with none.

It bummed Weiss out, all this time she had been talking to a nameless stranger?

Her older sister stopped speaking when she noticed her troubled face, "What's wrong?"

Weiss sighed, "I just realized that I don't even know her name."

Furrowing her brows, Winter spoke, "Oh how _rude_ , you didn't think to even ask for her name after she's _helped_ you so much?"

"..." the smaller girl didn't say anything, because as much as she wouldn't like to admit it, she was right.

Winter sighed, "You really need to work on that if you want to make friends."

"I don't need—"

"She's not here today though," she swiftly cut her off, not having any of her ' _I don't need friends_ ' shtick, "I wonder where she could be."

Weiss ended up giving her a dirty look, though let it slip and soon joined her wonderment. She stared back at the high chair, the person there today was a girl with voluminous blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a yellow bikini, as well as the goggles on her head and whistle around her neck. She was evidently more shapely, but not too much. Her lilac eyes were scanning, but somehow it had a playful glint in it.

As if she had an epiphany, she began to remember something, "I remember her mentioning that they have a restaurant nearby.." this caught Winter's attention, making her look at her, "So maybe she's.. there..?"

There it was, her sister's shit-eating grin.

"Not like I was wondering or anything! Stop looking at me like that!"

Laughing with a shake of her head, her older sister simply gave her a knowing smile that annoyed her to no end, "Whatever you say. Come on let's have a look, I'm getting hungry anyway."

They went to the shore and their bodyguards aided them by giving them their cover up dresses, Winter had a white lacy design, while Weiss had a light blue one with floral designs. They headed to the restaurant which was pretty much always in their sight, they just didn't think of going there.

They went inside, with bodyguards in tow and was immediately met with quite a line for reservations almost all composed.. of girls? The sisters were confused as they scanned the area, the place was fancy but was homey enough to not be intimidating. It was contemporary and looked like a very comfortable place to dine in. There were a lot of people though and looked particularly packed when compared to the other restaurants nearby.

Looking around, Weiss' icy blue gaze landed on a familiar figure, it was a girl taller than her, she had dark hair with crimson tips and it was held in a low pony tail, she was wearing what probably was the restaurant's uniform.. she was.. wait, she was the lifeguard!

And girls were staring at her with hearts in their eyes, what the heck!

Weiss watched as the lifeguard handled the customers with such poise and confidence—that it was literally driving them crazy.

But if ever, it just made her scoff, "She's just buttering them up with stupid sugar coated words," she mumbled under her breath at the sight.

Winter however, noticed her sulking. A smile graced her lips as she brought a hand over them, "Hmn? Is my little sister jealous?"

The said girl immediately turned to her with a gasp, "I am _not_!" she denied in exclamation before trying to grab her sister away, "Let's just go, the line is too long anyway, I don't want to wait."

The older sister halted her movements with an authoritative hand, gaining her slightly startled attention, "Don't worry, I got this," she nodded to their bodyguards and they were quick to go over to the cashier, making a beeline through the long line, unfazed by the annoyed looks on the customers.

They faced the cashier, she was a rabbit faunus who seemed to grow smaller at their imposing size, obviously she was visibly uncomfortable with their presence, albeit also confused because of their appearance.

She began to stutter, feeling feint under their scary unwavering stare, "H- How may I help you? Th- There's a line.." she gestured to the line shakily, getting weary because of the impatient looks of the said customers.

One of the three muscular men brought out a verification ID of some sort and presented it to her, "We are from the SDC, and we request an immediate seat which will be paid in whatever cost."

The faunus fumbled around, her large inconspicuous ears droopy as it swayed in the air, unsure of what to do before speaking once more, "P- Please wait for a moment, I will call the manager.." she went inside, and promptly another man came out with her hiding behind his back.

He was a well built man, had slicked back silver hair and wore a black suit with a face of a warrior. Somehow the bodyguards found themselves respecting the man, even though they knew nothing about him.

He began to square them up, unfazed by their size.

"How much will you pay?" he asked, his face stony and his tone professional.

"Ten thousand lien," the bodyguard spoke with the same tone.

The manager was silent for a second before there was literally a ka-ching in his eyes, " _Sold_! Hello I'm Mr. Qrow Branwen, but you can just call me Mr. Qrow, may I ask how many are you?" he began to assist them in the restaurant after shaking each of their hands, regarding them with utmost importance that it threw every other customer off.

They thought there was going to be a brawl for customer equality but _no_ , it was the entire opposite.

"Five, but our two young Ladies get a different table," the burly man gestured to the two girls, they waved politely.

Qrow certainly felt honored to have the two daughters of the Schnee family dining in their restaurant! Today seemed to be their lucky day! He quickly turned to Penny who just came back from bringing over food to another table, "Penny! Get two tables available for our VIPs, ASAP!"

The ginger head immediately stood in attention, her feet closed as she gave him a well-trained salute, "Yes sir!" before she skipped over to a table with customers almost finished with food.

"Please wait a moment, your tables will be available shortly," he said and left with a gleeful smile on his face when they nodded. The people in line somehow wanted to complain, but they couldn't the moment they saw the scary glint in Qrow's eyes before disappearing back into the kitchen.

Soon the VIPs were aided to their seat by the ginger head, throughout the whole spectacle the lifeguard never noticed them, too busy entertaining the customers it seemed. Winter had a smile on her face as she specifically timed her hand to gain the lifeguard's sole attention, who was surprised at their sudden appearance as she came over.

She glanced over to Weiss who seemed to deem that the glass table was more interesting to look at.

"This is a nice restaurant, _very_ accommodating," she smiled, pleased with the service, "But you do two jobs?"

Smiling at her—somewhat sinister sounding—review, the now waitress lifeguard shook her head no, "My sister and I switch work sometimes."

Blinking, Winter seemed to understand, "Oh so the lifeguard today was your sister? Well.. I wouldn't have known.. you know," she didn't finish, her voice careful lest she unintentionally offend the waitress.

Who fortunately waved it off with a smile on her face, "It's okay, she's my half-sister."

Although hiding it, Weiss also seemed interested in the conversation.

"Oh what is your name by the way, we didn't quite catch it the first time," she finally asked her name, seeing the probably absentminded pout on Weiss' lips in the corner of her eyes. It made her smile.

"I'm Ruby Rose, but please just call me Ruby," the waitress, now known as Ruby Rose, introduced herself.

"That's a fitting name," the older sister quipped in, a smile on her face that Weiss found distaste in.

"We _are_ taking our orders now please," Weiss suddenly cut in, an agitated look on her features.

Winter looked at her defiant sister striking up her signature _you-will-do-as-i-please_ pose, before shrugging and letting her talk.

Ruby landed her gaze onto Weiss, who suddenly refused to look at her as she practically glared a hole into the menu. It made the waitress puzzled beyond belief, this girl was so confusing. Winter noticed before sighing and muttering, "She's so hopeless.."

"What is your hot seller?"

"Our famous family recipe! Strawberry pancakes topped with goodness you can't even imagine," she gave the sisters' a bright smile, looking quite proud of their food. It was adorable.

"Alright, we'll take two of that," Winter smiled as Ruby wrote down their order.

"Okay, anything else?" they both shook their heads no, "Coming right up!"

Another hand caught her attention, she turned to the customer before turning back to them, "I'll be back soon ladies," she waved goodbye with a smile, going over to other customers.

They watched as she interacted with a girl who obviously had the hots for her.

"My my, what a charmer," Winter whistled to herself, before turning to her frowning sister, "You better put her on a leash soon, Weiss."

As expected, Weiss spluttered in embarrassment, "What are you talking about!"

Winter simply shrugged, "Just saying."

They observed the comforting place filled with people having a good time, soon their food appeared, brought by Ruby herself. There it was, the strawberry pancake, dripping with strawberry syrup covered in cream and more strawberries. The pancakes itself had a slight pink tinge to it and truthfully it looked really nice.

"This is my personal favorite by the way," sharing her own thoughts with a cute grin on her face, the waitress pulled away, pleased with their looks of wonderment. Before she was about to leave, she landed her gaze onto Weiss who was looking at the pancake as if it was the apple of her eye.

"Hey, Sunshine," she successfully gained the said girl's attention—who looked around at first before landing her gaze on her. Disbelief was etched on her features, a dainty finger pointing to herself as she felt dumbfounded that she was referring to her in such a weird name,

Ruby simply laughed at her reaction, "Our lesson's going to start a little later, I'm going to have the rest of the day off after this," easing herself to leave, she gave the astonished girl a laid back wave, "So until then, enjoy your meal!"

Weiss just opened and closed her mouth like a fish and dumbly stared at Ruby's retreating back.

Meanwhile, Winter was grinning through the whole exchange, before nudging her younger sister on the arm, "It looks like my sister _Sunshine_ just got herself a date! I never thought I'd see the day!"

" _Winter_!"


	4. People Trouble

The sun was at its zenith, and so was the people enjoying their time on the beach as if it was their last! Children were screeching with delight, the adults were acting like youngsters! There were smiles, sunburn, pranks, games and fun all around under the heat!

Ahh.. beach, such a youthful paradise.

But all those noises were drowned out by two occupied teenagers, with their own respective colorful expressions. More particularly, from Weiss Schnee, who was wearing a frustrated look on her features. Next was Ruby Rose, who was also at the brink of vexation.

Days had passed since these two had crossed paths by an unfortunate accident, and the uncanny coincidence of being neighbors. Ever since the offer of swim lessons from the Vale beach's lifeguard herself, Ruby had been teaching her new companion as her own pseudo swim instructor.

Unfortunately for her, their progress were.. painstakingly slow, much to her chagrin. It had already been more than a week, and yet her wonderfully _kind_ student was still unable to swim. Ruby didn't know if what she was doing was simply not enough, or if the problem was coming from the marvelous ray of sunshine herself.

Still, even with the girl's incredibly small baby steps into learning how to swim, Ruby found a growing amusement in interacting with the bemused Schnee—who was so annoyed by her own lack of progress. It was entertaining how she would flail around the water—almost violently—until she floated.. but only for a while, then she grows tired and proceeds to sink, immediately clinging onto Ruby's arms as her leverage.

Which frankly, she secretly took solace in.

Yes, one could say she was quite taken with this Weiss Schnee girl.

She may not be the most friendliest person in Remnant, and had the unfortunate tendency to be unbelievably insolent. Something about her was just amusing to Ruby's eyes, rendering her unable take her attention off the girl.

Weiss Schnee was an interesting person.. as well as incredibly vexing.

Either way, even with her frustrating lack of improvements, it was still a bodily activity that made them closer together. She began to learn more about the girl's quirks, mood swings and if she was _lucky_.. see her soft side. But since she already knew those were rare, it had soon become a fulfilling accomplishment rather than actually being able to teach her how to swim.

It was weird, really.

 _She_ was becoming weird.

And she had a very small inkling why.

Feeling a brief shiver from a stare—that she also began to know almost too well, she looked behind her to see one of the bodyguards gazing at them from afar, his arms crossed intimidatingly. Well.. occasionally she would still catch her bodyguards staring at her with hard looks on their faces, but she learned to ignore it overtime..

..okay, maybe only by a little bit.

Ruby sighed before finally focusing on the increasingly taxing duty at hand, a thoughtful look appearing over her features, "Hmm.."

The sparkling ray of sunshine—as Ruby liked to call Weiss Schnee—was too busy focusing on laboriously swinging her feet underwater, her brows knitted as she looked down into the distorted vision of her submerged feet.

"Take my hand."

This made the girl looked up and blink dumbly at her statement, "Huh?"

"Just, take my hand," Ruby pulled out her damp hand, holding it out for the girl who unconsciously tightened her grip on her shoulders. She seemed very hesitant for some probably reasonable reason, but soon finally obliged after a minute of mulling over the possible outcomes this may end up with.

She was now floating a _bit_ before the lifeguard, of course with the help of her hands—though much to her chagrin, was panicking a little which Ruby unfortunately noticed.

"Relax, sunshine. Just swing your feet until you find your groove," she gave the pursed lipped girl an easy going smile, hoping to ease her stiff shoulders just a bit, "Don't worry, I won't let go no matter what happens."

Somehow, the tone of her voice—and the subtext of her words—made the Schnee a little tickled pink, before simply averting her gaze wordlessly. She did a small gulp as she did what she said, and soon.. felt like she was actually floating by _herself_! The amazing feat—for her—lifted her spirits up causing her to unconsciously break out into a big smile—which effectively startled Ruby, catching her off guard.

When the girl saw the starstruck look on the lifeguard's face, she quickly realized what she had just done and immediately composed herself, clearing her throat momentarily as if nothing happened.

Still, she spoke anyway, although in a meek voice, "..I just floated."

This seemed to bring Ruby out of her stupor, causing her to shake her head. Albeit it wasn't very visible due to her tan, she had an unmistakable blush on her face herself. What was that? She wasn't seeing things, was she? She never knew Schnee had such an adorable smile!

With a discreet sigh, she tried to fix her startled heart, finally replying with her own bright pearly teeth smile, "You did a great job!"

The Schnee felt the familiar feeling of warmth surrounding her chest, she had always felt the swell of pride whenever someone praised her efforts, but the effect when it came from this girl.. was a different emotion entirely. She felt butterflies in her stomach.. and it was a feeling that she just could _not_ fathom.

Unable to find the words of a proper reply, she could only answer like she had always done recently.

" _Ok_."

Ruby laughed at this, completely used by her lack of response to things like that.

"Right, anyway you gotta do it again, but without holding my hands this time," she told the suddenly distracted looking girl, who seemed to unintentionally squeeze her hands at the mention, before realizing that they were actually _still_ holding hands.

Ruby blinked at the girl's increasing look of embarrassment, before she suddenly withdrew her hold.. which was a big mistake. Fortunately, the lifeguard quickly took action and pulled her closer when she was about to fall into the water, moving around to support the both of them afloat.

They were both too preoccupied with the brief scare to even notice how _close_ their faces had become.

When they were finally stable, that was when their proximity finally dawned upon them, simultaneously causing red flushed cheeks. They immediately looked away from each other, though surprisingly, the Schnee still held onto Ruby's tanned shoulders. There was an awkward silence for a while, only the sounds of ocean waves and the distant honking of the birds were heard, until one of them finally broke the ice.

"So.." Ruby started, looking at a distance, trying to avoid ice blue eyes—which sounded absolutely ridiculous, "..when are you going back to where you came from?"

It was actually a question that had been circling her mind for days, and as time passed, the feeling of dread began to grow within her gut. Ruby almost recoiled from the thought, she didn't exactly like where these _feelings_ were heading to.

Meanwhile, the Schnee looked surprised by the question, before adorning a small frown on her features. _Going back.._ she couldn't believe it but she actually forgot that she didn't _live_ here like Ruby did. She lived in the city of Vale, though not too far, it was still a good one and a half hour commute away.

It wasn't very normal for her to forget that her time here was limited, which was _weird_.

 _She_ was becoming weird.

Sighing with a shake of her head, the girl finally answered in a peculiarly soft voice, "..in a few more days."

Ruby asked her to elaborate, now looking at the side glancing girl, "How _many_?"

"This Saturday."

Looking a little bummed, she could only mutter under her breath at what she heard, "..that's two days from now," if Ruby's hands were unoccupied right now, she would be rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "Shouldn't you have told me—I don't know.. sooner?"

"It slipped my mind," the girl actually admitted something, for the first time.

Ruby sighed, which the girl noticed, it seemed like their earlier vigor disappeared. She didn't know why—but she honestly felt like she was at fault.. and she decided that she didn't like this strange mood.

Seeing the troubled look on the girl's face, Ruby spoke to ease her probably complicated thoughts, "Anyway, it's okay. At least you're finally going somewhere despite being such a slow poke."

"Hey!"

She only laughed at her wonderful retort.

Still, the Schnee wasn't having it, "FYI, I am _top_ of my class!"

Ruby dismissed her familiar incoherence with a brazen grin, "Yeah yeah sure, do you want to go back to the shore now?"

Finally settling down, the Schnee just groaned in annoyance before nodding curtly in agreement.

With that, the lifeguard began pulling the both of them to the seashore, a still silence emanating from the serious faced teenagers, well.. until the Schnee found herself being body slammed to the side as soon as they felt the sandy ground under their feet, causing her and the god forsaken perpetrator to fall into the water.

Fortunately she was quickly pulled up by Ruby, who had an annoying look of unbridled amusement and mirth on her face, "Haha, are you okay?"

She was laughing in the inside until she saw the look on her companion's soaked features, causing her to stop.

Oh no.

Weiss Schnee was _pissed_.

The Schnee was spitting and spluttering impurities from her mouth—before abruptly whipping her head with terrifying speed to the _suspect_ , however.. her anger was momentarily cut short—as she was startled to see an apologetic face from a blonde boy, who looked like he was about to pitifully burst into tears.

"I'm sorry!" he apologized in exclamation, almost sounding like he was desperate for some reason.

But before neither of them could even respond, the boy's face suddenly went back into the ocean when a girl with an inflatable mallet hit him in the head.. looking absolutely bonkers! The newcomer cackled evilly before turning her gaze to the two girls who were dumbfounded by the scene.

With an over exaggerated gasp, the girl suddenly pointed a finger at them in an accusing manner, " _AH_! How _dare_ he! He was looking for reinforcements! _UNACCEPTABLE_! _**MUST** __**BREAK THEIR LEGS!**_ "

Again with her ridiculous mallet that Ruby swore was infused with some hard thing, they found themselves receiving a barrage of water splashes around them, before being annoyingly splashed on their faces. As they tried to get their bearings, the most _likely_ deranged girl began to speak absolute nonsense as she continued with her aggravating splash attacks, doing a monologue about some girl named Pyrrha and her convenient disappearance—so that she can splash the boy named Jaune into oblivion.

She almost had the same incoherence like the Schnee's colorful—yet fancy—strings of insults!

Who right now became so pissed that she happened to chance upon a stray piece of stick—before doing some gravity defying sorcery with a flick of her wrists that made water shoot out _precisely_ to the girl's face.

The orange haired girl stopped her annoying motions due to the disturbance that was the sea water squirted to her nose, causing her to involuntarily snort in unwanted water and hack like she was going to cough out her throat.

The pissed yet collected girl began to do that again, thrusting her stick into the water before targeting squirts onto the stunned girl's face once more, who was now holding out a hand to guard her face, trying to protect her nose from snorting more stupid squirting sea water.

Meanwhile, Ruby was only staring at Weiss Schnee's _sorcery_.

"Woah! Are you actually a water bender?" she asked with an amazed look on her features, her hands clapping excitedly as if she just saw a spectacular performance.

"A _what_ now?!" the girl responded with exasperation, before beckoning her to come closer, "Stop lagging behind and help me drown this dimwit!"

However, as soon as she finished saying that, she felt a wave of splash right to her face. It knocked her out and Ruby saw that it came from a dude with a pink streak in his hair, his hands in a sumo slap form. His eyes were narrowed at her, before helping the other girl up who seemed even _more_ excited than ever.

The ginger head suddenly exclaimed in glee, giggling like a maniac, " _OMG_ , new enemies!"

"Hi strangers! I'm Nora, and this is Ren!" she gestured to her pink streaked martial artist friend giddily, readying her inflatable mallet afterwards when he acknowledged them politely.

"And welcome to our own version of water sports, which you are _now_ a part of!" after her grand introduction, she saw a blonde head finally pop out from Ruby's back—who didn't even notice that he was hiding behind her—so she quickly pointed to him too, "Oh and that's Jaune by the way!"

"Hi Jaune! Can you breathe yet!?" Nora was laughing in high pitch.

Jaune squawked in apprehension, "Someone _restrain_ her!"

Remaining completely oblivious to the boy's pleas, the ginger head turned her head to the shore to see one of her friends going back over to them, her face brightened up even _more_ as she waved at her red head buddy.

"HEY PYRRHA! WE GOT OURSELVES A 3 ON 3 BATTLE COME JOIN US!" she spoke so fast and loud without even stopping to breathe.

The Pyrrha girl seemed game about it.

Ruby finally spoke after watching on the sidelines for too long, "This is crazy!"

Just when her white haired companion was about to whole-heartedly agree with her for _once_ , of course she just had to say it!

"I'm _in_!"

But what she said next made the stupid butterflies in her stomach go rampage again.

"Come on Weiss! This is gonna be fun!" the crimson tipped girl laughed merrily.

O- Oh.

..this was the first time she actually called her by first name.. and for god's sake she did not know why she was reacting like _this_! Were these butterflies supposed to mean _something_? Why did it have to be butterflies anyway?!

Shaking her head with a groan, Weiss ignored the _pest_ that was her feelings and responded with menace, still not letting the deranged girl get away with what she did. After all, no one messes with a Schnee and gets away with it!

"I just want to pummel her into the seafloor," she said menacingly, her eyes narrowed to the manic ginger head.

Jaune looked ready to scream.

When Pyrrha was ready with her kick board and stick, Nora suddenly nodded enthusiastically in approval before exclaiming, "Okay! ROUND START!"

Nora took off immediately and already had her mallet high, once more about to doom the three with annoying splashes.

Weiss immediately complained with a shrilly voice, "That counting is _so_ unfair!"

However due to her screeching, she was too slow to react and defend her face. Fortunately, Ruby came at a right time and even countered the ginger head—before her mallet even made contact with the surface of the water. She was furiously splashing the hammer wielder in breakneck speed, swiftly rendering Nora immobilized. Now it was Ren's turn once more to save her, but Weiss finally took action and began to thrust water onto the bridge of his nose, catching him off guard.

With a concentrated look on her face, Weiss did a slicing motion into the water with her hand and gathered them up into her open palm, before hurling the force of the water slash onto their faces as if a huge slap.

It successfully knocked Nora out.

When they were actually getting into the battle, the sounds of distant laughter brought them out of their fighting world, causing all of them to turn to the source of disturbance..

..only to see Jaune and Pyrrha splashing each other as if they were some sort of corny love sick couple.

Nora was stupefied, before looking like she was about to flip a table, "YOU'RE NOT HELPING!"

Surprisingly sighing in _defeat_ , she suddenly looked nonchalant as she placed the handle of her mallet at the back of her neck and pouted, "Ehh, I lost, this sucks. I don't wanna play anymore."

" _HUH_?!" Weiss of course, reacted very strongly.

Ruby simply laughed at what was happening.

"I'm tired anyway, we've been doing this for hours!" she brought out one hand, showing them her wrinkly fingers, her eyes wide as if scaring them like they were children, "Look at my hands! They're all crinkly and stuff!"

Ren just shrugged beside her, his posture more laid back and had a smile on his lips.

Looking more normal than she was before, Nora held out a hand, a friendly grin on her face, "Sorry about earlier, but it was really nice meeting you, friend!"

Weiss froze.

 _Friend._.?

Seeing the emotional turmoil that was surrounding her alabaster haired companion, Ruby took the hand instead before pointing to the girl with a shameless look on her features, "Sorry, she's just a _very_ shy person."

"Hey!" the _shy_ person retorted.

Nora laughed merrily, "Sure! We'll go now, see you guys soon!"

And with that, the group began to retreat, but not without waving the both of them good bye once more.

Eccentric they may be, that group was still composed of very nice and obviously fun loving people.

With her hands on her waist, and a well accomplished smile gracing her lips, Ruby spoke happily, "That was really fun!"

Noticing the silence from the Schnee, she landed her gaze on the girl who looked a little awed on what just happened, and seeing the look on her face, Ruby could not help but tease her a little.

"Well aren't you making friends," her impish tone brought Weiss out of her daze, who was now blushing in embarrassment.

"Shut up!"

Ruby laughed heartily, before innocently grabbing her hand and pulled her along to the shore as well.

* * *

It was now night time, and it was time for Winter's occasional ritual; tick off her dear sister Weiss. With a foreboding grin on her features, she swept her bangs to the side briefly before knocking onto her sister's door, after a few seconds she opened it and peeked in. She was about to holler when she heard something different going on in Weiss' room.

Of course indignation was still there when she heard her voice, but there was a hint of.. amusement?

Now reeled in by curiosity, Winter walked closer to her sister who was standing on her balcony, seemingly speaking with someone. Imagine her surprise when she saw that she was talking to Ruby, the life guard they had just met a week and a half ago, the same person who her sister seemed to be unconsciously fixated on for the past several days..

..wait, have they been talking to each other everyday this whole time?

She thought they only met whenever Ruby taught her how to swim!

Wow, she almost couldn't believe it, she couldn't accept the fact that she didn't know about this sudden development either. It seemed like her sister could be really discreet when she wanted to be. But really, wow. This was still a pleasant surprise, because who knew something like this would happen after years of visiting here every summer?

Just when she was beginning to fear that Weiss was going to live friendless forever, now she had changed and was all grown up.

After all.. she was beginning to open up to people, she wasn't as snobby and insolent as she was before she went here. She had become more tolerant, relaxed and had abandoned the passive-aggressive look she always wore on her face.

Not to mention, she knew that she had been making friends as well! Yes, she was watching the weird—yet equally exciting—pseudo water fight they had earlier that afternoon, and of course the small friendly interaction afterwards. She had seen it with her own two eyes, and she was infinitely proud of her sister! As strange as it was, she had actually interacted with other people like the teenager she was!

Wow, not even she could get Weiss out of her throne in her royal shell to go out and do fun things with friends.

Now look at her! Who knew this summer would be so life changing for her sister?

No one, not even her.

And it was all because a certain life guard named Ruby Rose literally swam into her life.

It was a shame their father wasn't here to see Weiss' development.. but he would probably ruin it so never mind.

Shaking her head with a small gentle smile on her lips, she walked back to the door and knocked on it deliberately, finally gaining her sister's attention, her head whipping at the impending embarrassment she knew she was going to feel.

And she was right, "It's lights off," she said with a teasing grin, but not extreme as before, well at least not for today.

Groaning with a palm over her face, Weiss spoke in a grumble, " _Ugh_ , please _stop_ doing that."

And with that she quickly averted her attention to someone else who was probably across the balcony, her lips opening to speak again. Winter couldn't quite hear what was being said so she walked a little closer, but it seemed like she was too late to eavesdrop.

"Okay.." Weiss simply replied to whatever it was she was responding to, before turning shy and meek, "..you too."

Then immediately, Winter found herself startled when she saw Weiss quickly close her balcony door in a hurry, sliding her curtains shut after giving another look in front of her. She looked flustered, and for a second.. looked slightly puzzled by her own actions, a sight that frankly, she never thought she would see appear over her younger sister's face.

Of course, it made Winter all the more amused on just what was that about.

After a deep sigh, Weiss finally noticed that she was still there, a look of confusion flashing her face, "Do you need something?"

Usually Winter would always tease her sister about something, but she decided not to for now, opting to voice out her true thoughts instead.

"Nothing.. you've really changed a lot, Weiss."

As expected, the said girl was puzzled by what she said, "What do you mean?"

Shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, the taller Schnee elaborated, "Well for one you never really talk to other people for more than one minute. But now, you're making friends, and one more than _friends_ ," she giggled obnoxiously at the last part, her teasing smirk coming back.

As always, Weiss did her signature splutter, "What?!"

Winter just laughed at her face, "Kidding aside. I'm really happy for you Weiss, this is great!"

Weiss only continued to be silent, a slight tint on her cheeks, never really agreeing nor denying to anything.

Which made Winter smile even more, "I'm glad we met Ruby."

For the first time in a long while, the younger sister agreed.

Weiss nodded.


	5. It's The End! Trouble

Unlike the stiff air in their first few sessions, today's lesson was accompanied with twinkling amusement and even slight laughter. Although most of it came from the ever so cheery Ruby, she would see some quirking of lips from her companion every now and then, which was truly, a spectacular moment—at least for her.

With a foreboding grin on her face, Ruby squeezed their held hands, catching the attention of one Weiss Schnee.

"Okay, I'm gonna let go of your hand now," she finally said, feeling how Weiss' steady paddling of her feet underwater almost came into a halt, which she fortunately corrected.

Weiss seemed a little hesitant with what she said, but soon slowly nodded, "..but wait for a while, okay? I'm still not ready yet."

Suddenly, Ruby's smile turned soft and gentle, her hands squeezing hers as if reassuring, "Don't worry, I wont let go no matter what happens, just let me know when you're ready."

Somehow the girl felt the weight of her words, and couldn't help but feel a little tickled pink. It was weird.. like warmish almost insect crawling weird, which didn't really make any sense, but it wasn't like her feelings lately made any sense either, so she just left it at that.

Well anyway, it seemed that the way Ruby said those words triggered something within the shorter girl, giving her a new wave of foreign emotions, such as indecisiveness and compulsion. Heaving a sigh, she tightened her hands around Ruby's with an, " _Ugh_!" _damn it, Ruby!_ "You can let go now..!"

Although a bit confused by her sudden outburst, Ruby simply nodded her head and slowly let go of her hands, finger by finger. When they completely lost contact with each other, as expected the girl began to flail around the water which of course would only lead to a temporary float.

"Weiss, relax. Don't move around so much or you'll get tired," Ruby was on alert, hands ready in case Weiss sank, yet her voice remained soothing, wanting to calm the girl's nerves, "Swing your arms and legs at your own pace."

With discreet shaky breaths, she nodded her head and obliged. Her arms' movements had lessened, and she was more or less finding her own groove, until she was finally floating on her own! It seemed like the girl was too focused on floating to notice, but right now Ruby already had the biggest smile on her face that day.

Even with the exciting discovery, Ruby patiently waited for the girl to notice it herself, eagerly awaiting her reaction to her own achievement.

Fortunately soon, she saw Weiss widen her eyes in realization, staring at her floating self from her distorted reflection over the rippling clear ocean water. Immediately, a wide beaming smile also broke out her face, too happy to even care anymore as she faced the person who made all of this happen.

"You did a great job!" Ruby cheered, clapping with her hands, creating a wet flappy sound that sounded slightly disturbing.

Yet it fell into nobody's ears, as Weiss felt that familiar swell of warmth again. Just why did it feel so different when it came from Ruby? It was a recurring question that remained unanswered for days, and she didn't even know where to begin to solve it.

Unaware of her inner turmoil, Ruby laughed, her tone becoming teasing, "You won't be needing those swim rings anymore!"

"Hey!" gasping as if offended, Weiss would've crossed her arms if she weren't trying to keep herself afloat, "They actually helped me a lot y'know!"

Much to her annoyance, she only received a dismissive smile, "Yeah yeah, sure princess."

"Now that you can swim now, wanna race back to the shore?"

Immediately, the competitive side of Weiss already had her game on, "Sure!"

"Are you sure?" Ruby was obviously testing the girl, who _surprisingly_ pulled out a tongue at her to probably spite the stupefied life guard, before opening her lips in a declaration. She had _no_ idea why she did that, but she noticed that sometimes when she was with Ruby, she brought out the annoying kid in her.

"It starts now!" of course, she got the head start.

Getting over her initial shock, Ruby watched as she clumsily swam to the shore, causing a small smile to tug on her lips. It was adorable, but at least the improvement really showed, although she still needed a lot of practice. Nevertheless, it was still an achievement, considering the girl was a bit of a slow poke and an incredibly stubborn person.

Ruby shook her head, finally deciding to get in stride with the girl before she drowned or something.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to reach the shore since they weren't very far from it either, but the strange growing heaviness in their chests made them slow down a bit. The sun was still at its peak, and they were surrounded by the lively chatter of people, yet the happiness they radiated wasn't as contagious as it used to be.

The moment her feet touched the dry sandy ground, Ruby took a deep breath, taking in the sea breeze she indulged in everyday, her wet skin dripping and sticking against the grainy floor. She was silent as she thought about things that didn't quite make sense to her, such as the feeling of something peculiar growing in the pit of her stomach, and the thought of..

 _..what now?_

It was a troubling question, because after all, she had already finished teaching the girl how to swim, and there really wasn't anything else for them to do together, was there? ..well, nonetheless that wasn't good. Ruby looked down at her sand ridden twiddling feet, she didn't want things to just end this way.

She turned to Weiss who was absently rubbing her arm, staring at the waves pushing and pulling back and forth, seeming just as bothered. She couldn't even look at her in the eye, her slightly ocean matted alabaster side pony tailed hair sticking to her shoulders.

"Hey, Weiss.." finally Ruby spoke, breaking the thick silence between them, plastering a smile on her face when she caught her attention, "You like dogs, right?"

Wordlessly, the girl only nodded truthfully.

Suddenly feeling a little bashful at herself, Ruby rubbed the back of her tanned neck sheepishly, "We have a dog in our beach house.. his name is Zwei, wanna come over later and play with him..?"

Imagine her surprise to see a small yet noticeably genuine smile on Weiss' face as soon as she finished, completely catching her off guard, gosh this girl really was so full of surprises. But as soon as it came, she turned meek, muttering a soft, "Sure."

Ruby blinked, feeling her heart leap at her approval.

Oh _wow_ , did she really just invite her to their house?

Strangely as if she hadn't used her voice for weeks, she found herself stuttering, "O—Okay! I'll be throwing pebbles at your balcony later this evening then?" she clarified, a smile slowly growing from her lips, her warm gaze finding timid ice blue ones, "I've got some waitress duties for a few hours."

A small laugh escaped from Weiss' lips, and it was the most adorable sound ever, "Stop that, that's just so unladylike."

She simply grinned with mirth, "Well it's better than screaming bloody murder," before regarding her with soft silvery eyes, "I'll see you later then?"

Weiss nodded in affirmation, "Yeah."

With that Ruby began to leave, but she was walking backwards, a wide grin on her face, "Later okay!"

This tugged a smile from Weiss' lips.

Even when she was already far away, she was reminded one last time for good measure, "Watch for the pebbles!"

Ignoring the weird ticklish warmth in her chest, Weiss finally replied with a shake of her head and a full involuntary smile, "Just go you dunce!"

Ruby simply laughed before running off.

Weiss then watched as the lifeguard disappeared into the back of their restaurant, before looking down at her hands. Recalling about the recent events that had happened for the past two weeks, well to be completely honest.. she was going to admit it.

It was the best two weeks she had ever had in this beach, no.. her life, and it all happened because she almost drowned that day.. Though if it wasn't Ruby who saved her, and if she didn't live next door.. this wouldn't have happened, and the thought of what could've _not_ happened kind of scared her. Ruby had become such a huge part of her life that it was frankly beginning to.. affect her in ways she couldn't comprehend.

Yes, she was now becoming aware of how she was somehow slowly changing.. remember? Even Winter had pointed that out.

It was scary in a way, but it also felt nice, even though she never really showed it.

The smile on her face fell, but _soon_..

Shaking her head, she retreated back to her home and decided to clean herself up for later.

* * *

Ruby was tired, and she just realized that her body was literally in constant work every single day. Ughh, she badly needed a break one of these days, but that would have wait. It was almost dark out, and she still needed to freshen herself up first before chucking pebbles at Weiss' balcony.

She took a quick shower, and decided to wear more somewhat presentable clothes which was a pristine white t-shirt and denim shorts. Yeah, it was still simple, at least she didn't look like she was going to sleep. Fixing her let down long crimson tipped hair a bit, she began to pick an assortment of pebbles from her empty fishbowl and went to her balcony. When she opened it though, she was surprised to see Weiss leaning over her dividers, staring into nothingness.

They both startled each other, each of them releasing their own respective _ahh!_ in different octaves.

Ruby was first to speak, not even minding the mess she made after accidentally letting go of the pebbles.

"W—Were you waiting?!" noticing that she sounded so not cool, she quickly composed herself and finally took in Weiss' full features. Her breath hitched in awe, she was wearing a one piece white summer dress, her usual side pony tailed hair was down as well, with a bit of her hair braided around the back of her head like a small mid crown.

She was really.. _really_ pretty.

And she couldn't help but blush, now she felt like an inferior to her now, she knew she should've dressed more decently!

"W—What are you looking at?!" it seemed like Weiss wasn't better off herself, her cheeks were also flushed red for some reason.

"N—Nothing!" the tanned girl waved her hands dismissively, almost looking frantic which she inwardly cringed at. Oh dust, Ruby. Keep yourself together! Shaking her head, she took a deep breath before finally speaking softly, "Come on, go down. I'll pick you up."

With the little nod from Weiss, she closed her balcony and immediately went downstairs, she didn't want to keep her waiting.

When she was in their living room, she heard the sound of some shrilly dude cracking jokes from the TV, illuminating Yang's amused face who was on the couch eating potato chips. There were also sounds of clanking utensils from the kitchen, it was probably her dad.

Her older sister seemed to finally notice her presence and her slightly unusual get up, so she turned to her, a chip halting from its way to her waiting mouth, "Hey, Rubes. Going somewhere?"

"Weiss Schnee is coming over," she answered simply, already on the shoe rack looking for her footwear.

However she jerked up in surprise when Yang suddenly sat up and exclaimed, " _What!?_ "

Then next came her father, his head abruptly popping out from the kitchen, a look of shock on his face, " _What!?_ "

Ruby stared back, startled and confused by her family's reaction, "What?"

Her dad finally came out from the kitchen, already tying an apron around his waist, a determined look on his face as if he was being briefed into a mission, "You should've told us! Yang we're cleaning the house and help me with dinner!"

Yang quickly stood up and put away her chips before helping him.

Ruby simply shook her head with a smile on her lips, before whistling with her hand, immediately Zwei was in sight.

"Come on boy, we've got someone special to meet!" she ruffled his furry head with fervor, while the dog barked excitedly before following her outside. When she was about to leave the house that was now full of rushed vacuum cleaning and chopping cooking sounds, she was stopped by the voice of her dad.

"You should also invite her for dinner later!" he hollered through the frying noise he was making.

"Okay! Be back in a bit," she answered, finally leaving.

The sky was already dark.. but fortunately, it was particularly starry today, and since the beach had a great view of the sky, it was truly a marvelous sight. Ruby sighed in relaxation, somehow ebbing away some of her nervousness from the upcoming _actual_ spending time with Weiss, well if that made sense. The cold air near the ocean made her shiver a little, she forgot how cold it could be at night, she rarely left at this hour after all.

Soon the short walk was over, and she could see Weiss waiting for her in front of their veranda, causing her to stop in her tracks as she took in the beauty before her.. Oh wow, she looked even more beautiful under the moonlight, like how her sparkling alabaster hair would slightly sway with the gentle ocean breeze, and how her creamy skin was breathtakingly illuminated by the moon's radiance.

It was almost a crime to gain her attention, she didn't want to disturb the look of serenity over her features as her mesmerizing ice blue eyes stared at the twinkling stars.

But it seemed like someone else wanted to make their presence known.

So Zwei barked at the sight, swooshing through the silence like a slap to the face, nearly making Ruby jump out of her skin.

Weiss finally noticed their arrival, her cheeks slightly dusted with pink, she was probably wondering how long they had been there. Though soon, her gaze landed upon the little dog near her, and judging from her growing big adoring eyes, she was already quite taken with the cute fuzzball.

Chuckling at her adorableness, Ruby introduced her, "Weiss Schnee, meet Zwei."

The dog barked in cue.

Weiss' eyes goggled brightly, darting from the dog then to Ruby as if she couldn't talk.

Ruby simply laughed, a soft smile on her lips, "I know."

She really loved dogs, didn't she?

"Should we go?" she said, holding out her hand which Weiss looked for a while, she was beginning to feel nervous when she was taking so long until she finally took it. With a discreet sigh of relief, she began to tug her hand and walked through the sandy ground, her hold gentle.

They both flushed at the contact. To be honest, Ruby didn't plan on doing that in the first place, it was more of an instinct than anything.. well she'd been doing this to Weiss for a while—holding her hand she meant, and maybe she got used to it. Surprisingly, the girl never complained about it.

The two of them watched Zwei play around the sand like a dork, then couldn't help but laugh when he tripped over his own stubby feet and flew across the sand like a ragdoll. He was okay though, standing up like it never happened as he continued to play around, shaking his body occasionally to shrug off some sand.

After a while, Ruby was looking at the stars, before checking Weiss' expression with a side-long glance. She seemed a little timid, and she couldn't help but smile, "You look really pretty, Weiss."

She inwardly fist pumped, giving herself a pat on the back for not stuttering like a lame-o and not wording it out like a creep.

Weiss blushed before unconsciously tightening her hold on Ruby's hand, refusing to look at her in the eye. The gesture made her grin, simply squeezing back in response. Somehow, neither of the two wanted to let go.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the distance between their houses became _incredibly_ short for Ruby's taste, that the universe had to jinx their thoughts. Sighing, she announced their arrival begrudgingly, "We're here."

And so she slowly let go of Weiss' hand, their fingers holding on for a second before letting go. The lingering contact left them flushed before Ruby coughed into her hand and opened the door, gesturing her to go first like the gentlewoman she was. The girl gave her a small appreciative smile that made the butterflies in her stomach intensify.

Shaking her head to keep the mushy feeling away, Ruby closed the door behind her when Zwei ruffled his body before coming in, and they were both greeted with a sparkling clean house. Yes, even Ruby was amazed, sometimes she wondered if their family had strange superpowers or something, they always seemed to do unspeakable things.

Like this one time when her sister single-handledly obliterated a gang trying to ' _invade_ ' their beach, or when her dad was a rumored Ursa bear killer, and even Uncle Qrow who was an infamous slave driver.. okay, back to the current situation at hand.

When she heard someone sneeze from somewhere in their house, Ruby remembered something, she turned to Weiss who was looking around their humble abode, "Oh, by the way would you like to stay for dinner later?"

Giving her a polite smile, the girl nodded, "That would be lovely."

Oh wow, Ruby raised a brow, an impish grin on her lips, "No need to be so polite, Weissy. What happened to feisty?"

As expected, the girl crossed her arms with a frown, "Well excuse me for acting like a civilized person."

"Oh so you're not civilized around me?" the lifeguard asked inquisitively, though was genuinely curious for her answer.

Weiss seemed to have caught on, before her cheeks turned red, then muttered under her breath, "Shut up.. _you're different_."

Ruby _almost_ didn't hear it if it weren't for the silence of their home, opening and closing her mouth dumbly.. she was about to speak once more until the rest of her family members finally came out of their hiding. They turned their attention to Yang and Taiyang walking out of the kitchen, of course with knowing smiles on their faces.

"Hello, I don't think we've met before.." holding out a hand, Taiyang gave the girl a good naturedly smile, "I'm Taiyang, Ruby's dad."

As if she was born to respond to introductions, she replied swiftly in an almost practiced way, "Hello Ruby's father, I'm Weiss Schnee, it's a pleasure to meet you," she shook his hand.

"Oh I've heard so much about you!" here came her dad's incessant yodeling—as Ruby _loved_ to describe it—so she quickly placed a firm hand over her dad's shoulder, already beside him which effectively startled the man.

"I'd rather not dad," she smiled a smile _so_ pleasant, it sent shivers down their spine.

But Taiyang was not a sissy, not even to his beloved daughters, "Oh but it's _true_!"

Yang laughed lightly, her coaxing hands in the air, an amiable look over her grinning features, "Now now dad, let's save it for dinner, shouldn't we?"

Ruby face palmed, instead her helping, Yang only made it worse! Their dad of course happily agreed.

Turning to the guest with a friendly smile on her face, she also held out a hand, "I'm Yang by the way, her older sister," they shook hands, though Yang took it further with a flippant wink.

It was apparent that Weiss was amused with their strange family exchange.

Shaking her head with a groan, Ruby finally spoke, "Anyway, we'll be upstairs now," without even giving them time to reply, she had already grabbed Weiss' hand and was en route to the stairs.

Oh but of course!

The two blondes would _never_ let her leave _unscathed_.

Yang yelled teasingly, "Don't have too much fun now!"

Followed by her dad, "Food will be ready a little later, you girls have a blast for the time being," as if remembering something, he hurriedly added something when the two were almost out of sight, "Oh and Ruby don't forget to use—"

Her face now flushed red with both embarrassment and chagrin, Ruby gave him an incredulous look before he could finish, "Can it!"

* * *

They were finally in their room and aware from the embarrassing nightmare that was her family, of course with Zwei in tow, the only sane one in their house of oddballs. Sighing, she turned to Weiss who was still looking around her fortunately clean room, her eyes softening at the look of wonderment over her delicate face.

"Sorry about them earlier.." she rubbed the back of her neck coyly, making the girl's ice blue eyes land on her, "They're usually not like that."

Weiss replied with a slightly playful look on her face, "It's fine, it was interesting."

Of course, she would be amused to see Ruby like this.

She was glad Zwei was there to bark to give Ruby time to recompose herself, Weiss soon fixated her attention to the dog before looking at Ruby as if asking for permission if she could touch him. She shook her head with a smile, "Go on."

The night was spent playing around with Zwei for a while, that was until the dog got tired and began to sleep in a corner. Damn, Weiss could be really be adorable if she wanted to, it was just hidden underneath her scowls and sass. But seeing this soft side of the girl, made the ticklish feeling in her gut become worse..

..as well as the feeling of impending dread.

How could she forget..?

Now that the calm had settled, the two of them were engulfed in an inevitable silence, both of them sitting on her bed, occupied by their own respective musings in their mind. It had been probably a minute or so until someone finally broke the silence.

Looking over to Weiss who was fiddling with her slender fingers, the feeling of them being in her hands clouded her senses, before she shook the strange thought away from her head and plopped to the bed with a sigh.

This caught Weiss' attention, though Ruby's eyes were closed to notice.

Without giving it much thought, the lifeguard spoke, "..so you leave tomorrow, huh?"

Weiss could only lower her gaze, her lips pursed..

"Ruby?" she called.

"Hmn?"

There was a brief period of silence until..

"When I come back.. will you still be here..?"

Ruby's eyes shot open, her heart skipped a beat, yet her features remained impassive, before landing her gaze over to Weiss who was staring at her with intensity she'd never seen before. Ruby slowly sat up and leveled her gaze, before giving her a soft, warm smile.

"Of course, I will always wait for you."

Weiss smiled genuinely, and it was the most beautiful sight ever.

Getting over her initial shock, Ruby chuckled before booping her nose with a finger, "You're really cute, you know that?"

Weiss flared up, "Am not.."

Yet she only received a gentle smile in return.

"Ruby..?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Ruby blinked before looking at Weiss who was playing with the hem of her dress, her voice meek.. yet the truest as it had ever been, "Thank you for everything, right from the day you saved my life.. for teaching me how to swim, for helping me make friends and.. for _staying.._ with me until the end."

Scratching her cheek timidly, her ice blue eyes finally met silver ones, their gaze bounded by sincerity like never before, "I may.. have not said it before, but it really means a lot to me. More than you think."

Speechless, the horrible blush on Ruby's face said it all, "No.. problem.."

Weiss noticed, seeing the opportunity, now it was her turn to tease, "Are you blushing?"

"No."

"You're blushing."

"Weiss, no." when Ruby buried her face into her palm all flushed and everything. The girl laughed before settling down and began staring at her lap.

There was silence once again, but it was considerably much more comfortable than before. Wow, Weiss had never felt so relieved to get that out of her chest, not even when she admitted some.. _things_ to her sister.

"Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"Can I have your email?"

Weiss turned to a sheepish Ruby who was holding up her scroll, "Y'know.. so that we can keep contacting each other?"

The girl blinked dumbly, "O—Of course."

They began to exchange emails, transporting themselves to each other's respective social media pages. While Weiss was too busy staring at Ruby's profile picture, she heard a snicker from the said girl. Immediately she turned to her with a questioning look on her gaze.

"You look really cute here," Ruby teased, mirth in her silver eyes.

Mortified, Weiss tried to cover her face from her screen, "Noo!"

Ruby only laughed at her reaction before proceeding to read something on her profile.. seeing a vital information that caused her to narrow her eyes, then widen them, "Wait.. you go to Beacon Academy?"

Turning to her with furrowed eyebrows and confusion, she nodded in affirmation, "Yes, why?"

Ruby then placed her hands over her shoulders to face her, startling the girl, but the amount of elation on her face was enough to distract her, "Yang and I are going to study there after this break!"

Weiss widened her eyes, "Wait you mean you're going to transfer? But where will you stay?"

Looking thoughtful a second, she replied, "Dad's still looking for dorms—"

"—I don't have a dorm mate yet.." she cut off without thinking, before blushing, "I— I mean if you want to—"

Another grin broke out Ruby's face, "That sounds absolutely stellar! We're going to be roommates!"

After a fit of excitement, she turned to the now smiling Weiss, "Aaaghhh I'm so happy, can I hug you?!"

She received an unsure answer, "Um, yeaaaah?"

But that never fazed Ruby Rose, and so she began to hug Weiss tightly, who was slowly going to return it when suddenly a knock made the two break off making themselves go bright red and flushed at what just happened.

They heard a muffled voice behind the door, but the knowing tone on their voice was still _very_ obvious, "Are you two done? Because it's dinner time."

Ruby coughed into her hand before saying they were coming.

* * *

As usual, the stars were shining, and Ruby had always found the way it was shimmering quite splendid. However this day made the sight even more beautiful in her eyes, especially when a certain someone basked under the soft moonlight. It was already deep in the night, but not nearly close to midnight yet. Ruby was now walking Weiss home, their hands holding each other with utmost care, at least she did.

With an easy smile on her lips, Ruby spoke, her gaze turning to her companion, "And here I thought it'll be long till I get to see you again," she laughed.

Weiss returned the sentiment with a smile of her own, a gesture she never thought she would be doing a lot until now, "Good thing we exchanged emails."

"Good thing I was taken by your _adorable_ profile picture," she was of course, teased.

Which made Weiss push her cheeky face away, a bit of red dusting her pale cheeks, "Stop that.."

When they finally reached Weiss' house, they both turned to each other, and Ruby was first to speak, "So this isn't good bye."

The girl shook her head no.

Ruby smiled softly, "We'll be seeing each other again.. very soon."

"Until then.." she cupped Weiss' cheeks, before gingerly placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, who turned crimson red at the contact, "Take care, Weiss."

Ruby grinned with a tint of red on her own tanned cheeks.

"I want to see you off tomorrow, but contact me when you get home okay?" she chuckled at Weiss' cute nodding, before patting her on the head.

"Good night, Weiss."

"Good night, Ruby.."

They both smiled before slowly letting go, Ruby waited until Weiss safely went inside the house..

..until she came rushing back and gave her a big tight hug.

She was blushing when she let go and hurried over to the door, but not without her giving her one last dazzling smile that sent flutters in her stomach.

Wow.. she really had taken a liking to this girl.

And she was looking forward to exploring these feelings even more.

* * *

 **AN:** Hi everyone! Thanks for reading this short probably rushed story! Sorry about that, I'm not really used to making shorties and keeping a specific chapter count while stuffing everything in, if that makes sense. But _wow!_ I actually finished a _story_ nonetheless! Hurray to me! Anyway I might make another RWBY story soon and _hopefully_ , I will get to finish it too without jinxing it since it's gonna be a loong series.

Anyway! Once again, thanks for reading! For following and for the favorites! Of course, most especially for reviewing! I love you guys.

 **PS:** Yup, I am very much aware of the potential sequel this story has, and I'm still thinking about it, so it depends. ;)


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